


Those Days Are Long Gone

by blueraeanddvd



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Drug Use, Drugs, Heroin, No Beta, Overdosing, Recreational Drug Use, Short & Sweet, Sibling Bonding, We Die Like Men, depends on how this does, i dont know what else to tag, might have a second chapter, they care about each other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-21
Updated: 2019-03-21
Packaged: 2019-11-26 18:41:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,594
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18184319
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blueraeanddvd/pseuds/blueraeanddvd
Summary: Klaus overdoses and remembers some old times.WARNING: Heavy drug use and overdose are major themes in this story





	Those Days Are Long Gone

At the ripe age of 19, Klaus had his first overdose. He felt the pressure of the bed under him as he came to. He couldn’t see, couldn’t move. And yet, he didn’t panic. 

“Klaus, if dad hears us we’re gonna be in big trouble,” he heard Vanya say. Her voice seemed far away, like she was talking to him through a wall. Her tone was light and her pitch was high, like they were teens sneaking around at night. That couldn’t be, he told himself, those days were long gone now.

He wanted to respond to her, tell her that he couldn’t reprimand them anymore, but then Vanya was gone and he was in a motel room, a needle in his arm and blood on the sheets.

“Jesus, Klaus. I thought you were gone for good, dude.” A man laughed from the twin bed next to him. He sounded so nonchalant, like Klaus hadn’t just almost died. “Good thing we got that narcan. By the way, you owe me $150 for that.” 

“I need to go to the hospital,” Klaus finally groaned out. The man next to him continued to smile.

“Promise me you’ll pay me back first,” he said, “or I won’t take you.”  _ What a prick _ , Klaus thought to himself, but promised against his better judgement. They both knew he didn’t have that kind of money.

 

The man loaded Klaus up in his car and drove him to the hospital, only to dump him in the parking lot and leave as soon as possible. Klaus couldn’t stand up. His body was like dead weight, just something to hold him down. As he lay on the asphalt under a flickering street light, he wondered what his family would think of him now. A sweaty, disgusting heap in front of a hospital, slowly running out of adrenaline and dying.

Next thing he knew, he was in a hospital bed. Apparently, someone had found him outside in the parking lot. The doctor told him he was lucky to be alive, but Klaus wasn’t sure he’d call that luck.

That same day, he was back on the street, ready to make the exact same mistakes as the night before.

 

On the night of his 21st birthday, Klaus overdosed for a second time. Him and some buddies had found their way to a club full of drugs, alcohol, and sweaty bodies. People on the dance floor popped pills like candy, washing them down with fruity drinks and each other’s saliva. Klaus took anything that was handed to him, not caring enough to ask what they were. By the end of the night he felt like he was floating. The only thing he could hear was the beating of his heart in his ears and his blood coursing through his veins. 

At 3am the party dispersed and Klaus was high as a kite, but when the sun’s down there's still time for more. Stumbling into a gas station bathroom with a key connected to a plastic spoon, Klaus sunk to the floor and pulled out his supplies.

He was careless, not taking any of the precautions he used to when he started this. He never washed his arm anymore, opting to lick the spot where he’d stick the needle in. Tie the rubber around, give yourself a good ol’ smack, and you’re ready to go.

That instant rush he gets is familiar now. He lets out a shaky sigh of relief and sits there, giving himself a moment to bask in the glow.

Heroin had been his favorite since the first time he tried it. Adderall, speed, coke, none of them make him feel like heroin does. Heroin doesn’t make him go crazy with energy, do stupid things, nothing like that. It just makes him happy. With all the shit in his life, with everything that goes on, heroin takes it all away. 

Klaus knows how dangerous the drug is, how likely he is to overdose and die. But Klaus doesn’t have a plan for the future, doesn’t have anything to look forward to, so why not enjoy the now? He has nothing and nobody else, so he’d rather be in bliss in the moment than unhappy and alive in 20 years.

He pushes himself up off the bathroom floor, grinning ear to ear. He can still feel the effects of whatever he had taken before. Xanax? Molly? Who knows and who cares? He returned the bathroom key to the guy inside the station, then decided to stalk the isles of the small store for a candy bar or something. God, he couldn’t even remember the last time he had eaten something other than an olive or a pickle out of a drink. 

The fluorescent lights don’t hurt his eyes like they usually do, Klaus notices as he lies on the floor in the isle. They seem almost serene from his position, basking him in white light like an angel. He’s only slightly aware of the store clerk leaning over him. He hears his words but they don’t process with him, they’re just like white noise. He no longer feels like he’s breathing, no longer hears his heartbeat or feels his blood rushing around. It’s tranquil to him; for once, even his body is quiet. No ghosts and no heartbeat for him to have to listen to.

“Do you have kit-kats?” Klaus asks before his heart really stops beating.

 

Once again, Klaus can’t see. He tries and fails to pry his eyes open, then to move his body. This time he can’t feel a bed underneath him. Instead, he’s floating in this inky black abyss.

“Y’know, you should read a book every once and awhile,” Ben remarks to him, “they’re a better distraction than what you’ve been doing.”  _ Oh Ben, _ he wants to reply, _ you have no idea _ . He hears been let out a snort. “What, you think I don’t notice you sneaking out?” Ben says slyly, and Klaus has the sensation of deja vu. He remembers this conversation, back when they were fifteen. He hears the rustling of pages, then footsteps. A bed creaks from far away. “Just be careful, okay? I worry about you, Klaus. I just don’t want you to get hurt, or wrapped up in something bad.” Ben pleads to his brother, but his voice fades away. Klaus wishes he could go back, tell Ben he’ll be careful, read a  _ goddamn book _ like he said he should.  _ It’s too late, _ he thinks,  _ those days are long gone now _ .

A sharp, shocking pain to his chest and Klaus is sitting up, sucking in a breath of air. The rush of coming back from the dead was eerily similar to the rush of dopamine he gets when he shoots up. There’s irony in there somewhere, but Klaus is too busy breathing to look for it.

 

A few more times and Klaus end up with Diego in the void. He can hear a punching bag being hit somewhere, the chain rattling around. The punches stop, and he hears the heavy breathing of his brother.

“Klaus,” he pants, then pauses to gulp down some water, “I wanna tell you something.”  _ Shoot, _ he remembers himself saying,  _ I’m all ears _ .

“I know you’re not going to stop… your hobbies, so I’m not going to ask you to. I’m just going to ask you to be cautious. I don’t want anyone taking advantage of you,

“I’ve been going to the library while dad’s not home, and I found a bunch of stuff about safely purchasing and taking drugs. Apparently some stuff can be laced with other things, or the seller will say it’s something but give you something else.

“And I just want you to know who you’re getting things from. I don’t wanna come home one day and find out someone gave you pot laced with rat poison or something.” Diego says. Klaus remembers laughing there, responding with,  _ I don’t think that what they mean when they say it’s laced. _ He hears Diego’s light chuckle.

“Well, I’m no expert. But seriously, please stay safe out there. And if you ever wanna learn some self defense tactics just in case, I’m pretty good with a knife.” Diego laughs, fades away, and then he’s long gone.

The same thing happens again and again, until Klaus has lost track of how many times he’s almost died. Almost every time he find himself in that black abyss, he hears his siblings speak to him. Not really, of course, just the memory of them as kids. When things used to be easy, and a joint a day was enough to keep Klaus going.  _ Simpler times _ , Klaus always thinks. Things were simple when his family used to care, when he thought he didn’t need them to. Now it seemed like the only person who cared was the man in the ambulance who shocks him awake every other week, and his paycheck depended on it.

 

Klaus was used to the high pitched crying of sirens now, the black abyss that seemed to hold him for what felt like years at a time, and the far-away echoes of better times. On occasions, when he found himself alone in a hotel room high as a kite, he wished Ben were there to tell him to be careful, or that he could be sneaking out with Vanya again, or that Diego could be telling him to at least take precautions. He couldn’t go back, he told himself this time and time again, because those days were long gone now.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you liked this. Depending on how this does, I might do a second or third chapter where Klaus reconnects with the fam and gets sober. Let me know what you think!


End file.
